Questions tagged [supernova]
Questions regarding stars which increase suddenly in energy output due to an explosion which ejected much of its mass.
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What kind of star would allow for life like our Sun/Earth and then go nova?
In the Star Trek Prime Universe, Star Trek: The Original Series, the home stars of the Fabrini, Platoans and Sarpeidons went nova, while in Star Trek: The Next Generation one of the stars in the ...
5
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1answer
340 views
Is the resulting light from a supernova a product of photons bouncing around in the Sun?
I was thinking about how photons formed in the centre of the Sun take quite a long time to exit the surface. And it occurred to me that at the end of a star's life (during a supernova, given that it's ...
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What do the fusing 'onion layers' of a pre-supernova star look like to scale?
I'm sure we've all seen the diagrams of various layers of element fusion from hydrogen to silicon in a star that's just about to go supernova.
(Picture from courses.lumenlearning.com)
I suspect ...
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6answers
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Why does matter stay collapsed in the core, following a supernova explosion?
Following a supernova explosion a star may turn into a white dwarf, neutron star, black hole, or just a stellar dust & gas leftover.
Excluding the latter case, why and how does the star's core ...
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1answer
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Estimating the abundance of type-Ia supernovae using magnitude limited survey
I would like to estimate the fraction of type-Ia supernovae in a magnitude limited survey (only including those supernovae that are brighter than a certain than a given fixed apparent magnitude).
I ...
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0answers
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Assuming no light pollution, was “2C. 1406” ever visible to the naked eye?
Joseph Needham, in his Science and Civilisation in China Vol. III, claimed that there was an ancient record of a nova about three thousand years ago. As a result of private correspondences with a "Dr ...
3
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2answers
172 views
Can an Earth-like planet survive if our Sun went Supernova?
First, I would like to point out, yes, our sun does not have enough mass to be a candidate for Supernova, this is a scenario were our sun is though, and after the various life cycle stages of the sun ...
2
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1answer
107 views
Is there a standardized “Astronomical Alert” system?
“Who saw” the binary neutron star merger first? What was the sequence of events? (GRB/GW170817) highlights a particularly notable astronomical alert, but I am sure that there are alerts triggered by ...
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0answers
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How are constraints on dark energy improved the most?
Today we have various data available from independent probes to constrain dark energy, i.e. its equation of state $w$. These include Type 1a supernovae, BAO, CMB, large-scale galaxy surveys, etc. Are ...
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3answers
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Can a black hole “supernova”?
In layman terms:
nothing ever escapes the pull of a black hole, not even light
when a super massive star reaches the end of it's life you get a supernova
sometimes the "remains" of these stars can ...
2
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1answer
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Astrophysics of Supernovae - Energy over Distance?
I need this for worldbuilding, but it is a physics question. I want to be able calculate the energy over distance from a hypernova of a variable star like Eta Carinae. Understanding what energy levels ...
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How to calculate the light energy of a supernova?
I have been given a distance, an average flux, and a time period. How do I find the light energy emitted over that time period?
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1answer
85 views
Could pure iron from a star make it to Earth?
Since iron is a stars waste could a star that goes Super nova eject pure iron to travel across the galaxy?
https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/35101/99-99-pure-iron-meteorite
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1answer
128 views
What happens if a black hole is produced inside another black hole?
Similar question here.
The question I linked got me thinking.
It is known that a black hole doesn't let anything escape its event horizon, not even light. Thus, naturally, anything that passes the ...
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1answer
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What would happen if a star went supernova inside a supermassive black hole? [closed]
A black hole swallows a star.
The star remains intact.
Then goes supernova.
What would happen to the star?
Could we detect this event?
4
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2answers
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Scientifically important discoveries with the help of amateurs
I am looking for examples where amateur astronomers in these days contributed sigificantly to important scientifically discoveries.
I am aware of one example: Victor Buso from Argentina was lucky ...
2
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1answer
59 views
Can radioactive decay rates be confirmed by looking at supernova?
Radiometric dating relies on accurate knowledge of the half-lives of radioactive elements. Skeptics have argued that since many elements' half-lives are too long for anyone to have observed them, we ...
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2answers
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Are we really star-stuff from the interior of collapsing stars?
Carl Sagan has said several times that we are "star-stuff".
One instance can be found in Good Reads' Carl Sagan > Quotes > Quotable Quote:
The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the ...
7
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1answer
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Is it possible to predict a supernova with years or decades of advanced notice?
I know star phenomena like solar flares can (at some degree) be predicted:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5371481/Scientists-predict-solar-flares.html
Question: Is there any ...
22
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3answers
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What would happen if someone had a telescope and watched Betelgeuse when it goes supernova?
Would that person go blind?
Neutrino detectors and the abundance of Neutrinos would detect the upcoming visible show about 3 hours before any visible signs, so there would be time to point certain ...
2
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1answer
70 views
Comprehensible full manual for bolometric light curve reconstruction
Could anyone point me to some manual or tutorial, possibly step-by-step one, on reconstruction of (quasi-) bolometric light curve using UBVRI-photometry data?
Both links and names are fine for me.
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2answers
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Could two stars collide without a resultant explosion?
Are there any scenarios in which two stars could collide, and simply fuse without triggering a supernova. Maybe a mid-sized star slowly spiraling in together with a smaller star? It seems like any ...
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1answer
93 views
Could population III stars develop directly into population I stars?
Hundreds of millions of years after the Big Bang, the very first stars began to form consisting of mostly hydrogen, a bit of helium, and maybe some lithium. These stars lacked any "metals" (elements ...
2
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2answers
265 views
How much iron does a star fuse before going supernova? [duplicate]
I understand stars fuse atoms into heavier and heavier elements. When the star starts to fuse iron, the amount of energy released is less than the amount of energy it to takes to fuse the atoms. This ...
0
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1answer
29 views
Finding the SN explosion time by t-square fitting
In a couple of papers I've read that it's usual practice to fit early rise of supernova luminosity curve by $t^2$. Let me describe how I see it:
I take the early fast rising part of luminosity curve ...
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1answer
47 views
Normalizing the supernova spectrum by photometry
I have a SN spectrum here (already reduced) that seems to have some artifacts. Professor tells me that I may have to normalize it using photometry.
As far as I understand, I just have to multiply it ...
3
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1answer
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Searches for dipole form of anisotropies (on luminosity distances) in the universe with type Ia supernovae
There are many articles like this one Testing the isotropy of the Universe by using the JLA compilation of type-Ia supernovae (PDF, arxiv.org) trying to search for a dipole effect in cosmology with ...
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2answers
297 views
What is a type la supernova? [closed]
I’ve heard about them and know that they are used as standard candles, but what exactly are they? What makes them differ from other supernovae? Also, are they only special because of their use as ...
5
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1answer
106 views
What does the word “shock cooling” mean in supernova physics?
I cannot understand the meaning of "shock cooling" which occurred in supernova.
And I saw the sentence like "Early photometry and spectroscopy reveal evidence of shock cooling of an extended helium-...
5
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1answer
182 views
Why is there a Phillips relation?
I want to know the explanation of Phillips relation, the relation seen in type Ia supernovae(SN Ia with broader light curve is brighter). More Ni-56 implies a larger luminosity at peak but what about ...
3
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3answers
138 views
Why type Ia supernova reaches its peak absolute magnitude(~ -19.3mag) at around 15-20 days after the explosion?
I'm not sure why type Ia supernova reaches its peak magnitude 15-20 days after the explosion. Is this luminosity generated only by the radioactive decay of nickel-56 to cobalt-56?(considering a half-...
2
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2answers
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Could an astronomical process create elements in the islands of stability?
I was reading about heavy elements recently, and I took note of the theorized islands of stability, and how some the elements involved are considerably heavier than anything we've been able to ...
3
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0answers
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Is the acceleration of the expansion of the universe a direct observation or an interpretation?
Is the acceleration of expansion we observe with supernovae direct or is this an interpretation according $\Lambda$CDM model ?
I mean what we observe is luminosity distance versus redshift, so to see ...
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2answers
256 views
What happens when a star gets hit by a supernova?
This may sound like a strange question, but say that two stars are relatively next to one another in a binary star system, what would happen to one of the stars if the other went supernova? Would it ...
4
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1answer
78 views
Star - Black Hole binary. Star core Collapses. Does the black hole immediately grow from neutrinos?
I was reading on how Type II Supernovae release as much as 99% of their energy as neutrinos. So I was thinking: suppose there was a large star and black hole binary system, but the two were not close ...
2
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1answer
41 views
Secondary maximum in SNIa lightcurves for near infrared
Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) are thermonuclear supernovae that generates a lot of Nickel 56 which emits photons while disintegrating.
How is the secondary maximum in lightcurves for reddish bands (see ...
4
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2answers
106 views
Is there a name for the star/supernova hypothesized to have been a precursor to the Solar System?
I found an article suggesting a supernova injected debris which helped nudge the formation of the Solar System 4.5 billion years ago.
I couldn't find a name for this hypothetical star/supernova after ...
5
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1answer
106 views
How do isolated binary compact systems survive their formational supernovae?
In a broad sense I'm trying to understand how a binary black hole or neutron star systems can form from isolated binary massive star systems (i.e., other than from migration within rich BH/NS clusters)...
3
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2answers
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Superluminous super nova output
I was reading about how powerful supernova were and found out there are even bigger supernovae also called hyper nova. A large explosion was discovered in 2016 I believe (or was it 2017). I would ...
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3answers
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Is there a possibility that a white dwarf can turn into a neutron star or a black hole?
I know that a white dwarf is mainly balanced by electron degeneracy pressure and that if it gains more than 1.4 solar masses from any source (such as a companion star or a collision), it explodes as a ...
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2answers
375 views
Is a supernova powerful enough to destroy the other star in a binary system?
(This question was originally posted via World Building, but I was instructed to post it here)
https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/109457/is-a-supernova-powerful-to-destroy-the-other-...
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1answer
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creations after supernovas [closed]
Why is it the some massive stars go supernovae and than either form a black hole, pulsar or a magnetar. All stars essentially go through the same process when they’re alive and burning through their ...
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2answers
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How many Supernovae have been Imaged in the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field?
The Hubble Ultra-Deep Field is an image showing about 10.000 galaxies:
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Image Credit: NASA
Consider Victor Buso's spectacular discovery of an early supernova in NGC 613 (named SN 2016gkg):
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Image ...
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2answers
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Does Gold really come from Supernovas? [duplicate]
Do we really know that the origin of gold was in a supernova explosion?
I am talking about the gold we find here on Earth.
So then how are we sure that Gold actually came from these explosions. Did ...
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1answer
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Mass-magnitude relation of evolved stars
In short: what mass is appropriate for absolute magnitude $M_V \sim -7$?
Some context: I'm processing the observational data (supernova light curve) and curve fitting gives me about $0.4M_\bigodot$ ...
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0answers
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How is Phosphorus made in in stars? [duplicate]
What elements are required to fuse into phosphorus in a star. Can someone give me a step by step process please e.g
4 hydrogen nuclei fuse into one helium nuclei and then 3 helium nuclei
fuse ...
6
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1answer
153 views
Does this amateur observation hold a record even including robotic searches for supernovae?
The new paper in Nature A surge of light at the birth of a supernova (doi:10.1038/nature25151) describes the fortuitous capture of a supernova "Shock Breakout" - the earliest rise in brightness of a ...
3
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1answer
227 views
Core collapse supernova vs Neutron Star
I am reading about massive stars and their final consequences. what I understood is massive stars after throwing out their outer envelop with masses > 1.4 solar Mass turn into neutron stars. But I ...
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Doubt about star formation [duplicate]
When a star runs out of hydrogen, it either goes through supernova or forms white dwarf and planetary nebula. So there should not be much hydrogen left to form a new star in the nebula. So how new ...
5
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1answer
730 views
Supernova in Hertzsprung–Russell diagram
If you could put a supernova in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Where would it be? Would it be near the white dwarfs or near the super giants?
I know that a supernova isn't a star but rather the ...
